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Procter & Gamble has apologized over an online post claiming women’s feet smell “five times worse” than men’s.
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The original post, shared on the Chinese platform WeChat, has been slammed by social media users.
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The post, which has since been deleted, was meant to promote a line of fragrant body care products.
American consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has apologized over a controversial social media post in China that claimed women’s feet smell worse than men’s.
“Women’s feet smell five times worse than men’s. If you don’t believe it, smell it,” the now-deleted post said, per South China Morning Post (SCMP). P&G had shared the post on March 13 via its official account on the Chinese social platform WeChat.
The post, which was meant to promote a line of fragrant body care products, immediately sparked outrage online, with many WeChat users saying they would boycott the company over the “sexist” post. As of press time, the hashtag “P&G accused of insulting women” on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo has been viewed 30 million times.
P&G’s post — presented as a series of infographics — also claimed that women’s chest areas “have the strongest smell,” per SCMP.
It added that women’s hair is twice as dirty as men’s because women wash it less frequently and that women’s long hair invites more germs. P&G also claimed in the post that women’s underwear is dirtier than men’s — “even for women who pay close attention to personal hygiene.”
On Thursday, P&G issued an apology on Weibo, noting that the post had been removed.
“We sincerely apologize for the article’s inappropriate content, which disrespected women,” the firm wrote in Chinese. “P&G always advocates equal, tolerant and respectful values. We have deleted this article and seriously overhauled the (WeChat) account.”
The company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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